EU & China Continue To Grapple With Energy Shortages
A sixth straight day of gains pushed ULSD and Brent contracts to fresh 3 year highs overnight as the EU & China continue to grapple with energy shortages, and short term solutions seem to be in short supply. RBOB gasoline continues to lag behind the rest of the energy complex as the seasonal headwinds of the end of the US driving season helps alleviate concerns of shortages on that side of the barrel.
Try plastic bags instead? As we saw during the Colonial shutdown last spring, consumers are losing their minds during the fuel supply crunch in the UK, prompting pleas to avoid filling old water bottles with gasoline.
Something worth noting about this latest rally since the big selloff last Monday is that it’s pushed up the entire forward curve, not just the prompt months (see charts below) which suggests at least some traders don’t see this as a short term supply bottleneck, but a longer term structural supply shortage.
So far OPEC & friends have remained disciplined in sticking to their gradual increases in supply despite the higher prices, with some countries in the cartel struggling to meet their quotas, proving once again that pumping oil is slightly more complicated than flipping a light switch on and off. Ultimately, the Saudi’s ability to return spare capacity to the market and an increase in US Production should be the limiting factors in this rally, but, the lingering labor shortages and damage done by Ida are going to slow the pace of those increases domestically.
Shell’s Norco refinery, one of the two remaining refineries shut by Hurricane Ida (and one of the few refineries Shell hadn’t already shuttered or sold) is tentatively planning to begin restart in 2 weeks. The other refinery still shut, P66 Alliance, looks more like it may never reopen as reports surface that a potential buyer intends to convert it to a crude oil terminal.
Hurricane Sam still looks like no threat to the US beyond dangerous rip currents, while the 2 other systems churning off the coast of Africa are still given high odds of development.
So far energy and equity markets seem to be taking news of 2 FED governors’ resignations in the wake of (relatively mild seeming) stock trading controversy in stride. The US Federal reserve is arguably the most influential force in equity pricing, putting it second to only OPEC for oil market power, so it’s possible this story could still end up roiling our markets.
Today’s interesting read: An argument to change the biofuel tax credits to favor second generation technologies over “old school” biofuels that are running short on feedstocks. If last week’s leaked RVO volumes are to be believed, the EPA may already be leaning this direction.
Click here to download a PDF of today's TACenergy Market Talk.
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Energy Prices Up Over 2% Across The Board This Morning
Refined product futures traded in an 8-10 cent range yesterday with prompt heating oil settling up ~6 cents and RBOB ending up about flat. Oil prices clawed back some of the losses taken in the first two full trading days of the week, putting the price per barrel for US crude back over the $70 mark. Prices are up just over 2% across the board this morning, signifying confidence after the Senate passed the bipartisan debt ceiling bill last night.
The EIA reported crude oil inventories up 4.5 million barrels last week, aided by above-average imports, weakened demand, and a sizeable increase to their adjustment factor. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve continues to release weekly through June and the 355 million barrels remaining in the SPR is now at a low not seen since September 1983. Exports increased again on the week and continue to run well above last year’s record-setting levels through the front half of the year. Refinery runs and utilization rates have increased to their highest points this year, both sitting just above year-ago rates.
Diesel stocks continue to hover around the low end of the 5-year range set in 2022, reporting a build of about half of what yesterday’s API data showed. Most PADDs saw modest increases last week but all are sitting far below average levels. Distillate imports show 3 weeks of growth trending along the seasonal average line, while 3.7 million barrels leaving the US last week made it the largest increase in exports for the year. Gasoline inventories reported a small decline on the week, also being affected by the largest jump in exports this year, leaving it under the 5-year range for the 11th consecutive week. Demand for both products dwindled last week; however, gas is still comfortably above average despite the drop.
The sentiment surrounding OPEC+’s upcoming meeting is they’re not likely to extend oil supply cuts, despite prices falling early in the week. OPEC+ is responsible for a significant portion of global crude oil production and its policy decisions can have a major impact on prices. Some members of OPEC+ have voluntarily cut production since April due to a waning economic outlook, but the group is not expected to take further action next week.
Click here to download a PDF of today's TACenergy Market Talk
Prices Are Mixed This Morning As The Potential Halt In U.S. Interest Rate Hikes
Bearish headlines pushed refined products and crude futures down again yesterday. Prompt RBOB closed the month at $2.5599 and HO at $2.2596 with WTI dropping another $1.37 to $68.09 and Brent losing 88 cents. Prices are mixed this morning as the potential halt in U.S. interest rate hikes and the House passing of the US debt ceiling bill balanced the impact of rising inventories and mixed demand signals from China.
The American Petroleum Institute reported crude builds of 5.2 million barrels countering expectations of a draw. Likewise, refined product inventories missed expectations and were also reported to be up last week with gasoline adding 1.891 million barrels and diesel stocks rising 1.849 million barrels. The market briefly attempted a push higher but ultimately settled with losses following the reported supply increases implying weaker than anticipated demand. The EIA will publish its report at 10am this morning.
LyondellBasell announced plans yesterday to delay closing of their Houston refinery, originally scheduled to shut operations by the end of this year, through Q1 2025. The company “remains committed to ceasing operation of its oil refining business” but the 289,000 b/d facility remaining online longer than expected will likely have market watchers adjusting this capacity back into their balance estimates.
Side note: there is still an ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. Two oil refineries located east of Russia's major oil export terminals were targeted by drone attacks. The Afipsky refinery’s 37,000 b/d crude distillation unit was struck yesterday, igniting a massive fire that was later extinguished while the other facility avoided any damage. The attacks are part of a series of intensified drone strikes on Russian oil pipelines. Refineries in Russia have been frequently targeted by drones since the start of the military operation in Ukraine in February 2022.